if you'll open your Bibles to
John 17. It is so encouraging when we read or preach and that which was our objective
is accomplished. When I preached Brother Luther's
funeral message Friday, my aim and objective was to give
such strong confidence, hope and assurance to those who knew
Christ that the tears and sorrow for the moment might be wiped
away and forgotten. And when Mrs. Luther came to
me after the service and with a smile on her face actually
said, I may later, but I can't now." I thought it was a supreme
compliment. I accomplished what I set out
to do by God's grace and by the power of His Spirit. I stood
here a moment ago and read the seventeenth chapter of John.
I determined, I believe, led by the Spirit of God to preach
on this some two or three days ago. And after I read it and
sat down, our elder, Brother Cecil Roach, stood up here, obviously
and evidently impressed and overcome by the richness and the depths
and the beauty of this scripture. And you were. You were. Your
heart, it had reached your heart. It had affected your spirit and
your thinking. And you talked in your prayer
about not being able to fathom the depth of the Scripture, to
enter into the riches of the Scripture, but praying for some
understanding of the Scripture. And I thought as I sat there
and listened to him, that already for him I've accomplished what
I set out to do. I wish to impress on this congregation
tonight the riches and the glory and the depth of this prayer
of our blessed Lord. Now, my friends, I do covet the
gift to preach the mysteries of the gospel of Christ in such
a way and with such power that men and women will be affected,
not temporarily, but permanently. And they may be able to rise
above, be called above and beyond the ordinary, the mundane, of
this world, being able to think, to consider and to talk about
the blessings of the covenant of God's grace. There's entirely,
entirely too much foolishness and flesh and materialism and
worldliness in our conversations. There's too much joking. I love
entertainment and I love humor. But anything can be carried to
an absolute extreme. And out of the mouths of many
people, I never hear anything but foolishness, occasionally
fine. But it looks like that we'd be
led occasionally to speak of great things, of mysterious things,
of beautiful things, of profound things, of the things of God
and His grace and His covenant. I read something one time that
made a tremendous impression upon me. And I'm not speaking
down to you. I'm speaking to all of us. I've
been there. I'm there now too many times.
But I read this one time, and it was such a blessing. This
is what the person said, and it needs to be applied. Small
minds. We don't like to talk about anybody
having a small mind when we realize our own is so limited, but we're
not speaking in the sense of of a person not having brain
power, we're talking about the use of it. Small minds are content
to talk of people all the time, people and their thoughts. Small
minds are just content to discuss people, people, people. Mediocre
minds are content to talk only of places
and things. Great minds. are interested in
ideas, in philosophy and the art of living and making some
contribution to the well-being of other people. But gifted minds,
now watch this, spiritual minds, God-blessed minds, those who've
had the grace of God revealed to them, ought, ought more than
any thing else, ought to, more than anything else, speak of
the glory of God, His grace and His providence. And our conversations
ought to be seasoned with grace, edifying, exhorting one another,
encouraging one another, so much more as we see the day approaching.
So here as I ask you to turn to John 17, Mr. Spurgeon said about this Scripture,
Approach this scripture with your shoes off as Moses approached
the burning bush, for it is indeed holy ground. It is indeed holy
ground. It's perhaps, I would say, the
richest, deepest, most profound scripture in the Bible. And I'll
tell you several things about it as we get into it. This seventeenth
chapter of John is emphatically, without question, the Lord's
Prayer. Yes, indeed. It is emphatically,
without question, the Lord's Prayer. Now, that which is commonly
called the Lord's Prayer is not the Lord's Prayer at all. It's
the disciples' prayer. Our disciples ask the Master,
Lord, teach us to pray. And He said, well, when you pray,
when you pray, you pray this way. Father which art in heaven
hallowed be thy name you see that can't be the Lord's Prayer
because he would never the master would never pray Keep forgive
me of my sins as I forgive those who sin against me Give me this
day my daily bread keep me from the evil one. That's not the
master praying. No Christ is God. So this is the Lord's Prayer.
We're listening in on heaven when I read it again, and I recommend
that we read it over and over again. Don't just, as we read
it tonight and as I speak from it, lay it aside. Go back and
read it again. In your private devotions and
meditations, read this prayer. Read it, learn to read the Word
of God slowly as you meditate upon it. Don't ever, let me recommend
this, don't ever read the Bible as a a form of duty. Just lay it aside. It's rather
amusing. We get caught up in these things.
We sat around the dinner table today at noon. We're keeping
our grandchildren while Bob and Becky are in Florida. And we
sat down. Doris had a nice meal prepared.
I sat here at the head of the table. Luke on this side and
Carrie on that side and Doris over there. And just as we sat
down, I put the phone on the table so I could take calls without
going over to the desk. And just as we sat down and we
helped the children's plate, we get ready to offer thanks,
the phone rang. And so I picked it up and answered
it. It was Becky and Bob in Florida calling, you know, to see how
we were doing. So I said, well, while we're talking to Bob and
Becky, let's just go ahead and have our lunch because you can
talk a long time. The rolls get cold and the mashed potatoes
get cold and all these things. So I hand one baby the phone
and I hand the other baby the phone and I hand the big baby
the phone, you know. And we kept talking. And so as
they talked, I ate. I didn't want my rolls to get
cold. So I hung up the phone, and Carrie said, we didn't offer
thanks. I said, well, we'll offer thanks after the meal. She said,
you can't do it that way. You see how ritualistic we can
get? Even our youth, you can't pray after the meal is over.
You've got to pray before the meal starts. That's the way it's
done. That's the way it's done. Well, it's not always the way
it's done. This is the Lord's prayer. You don't read the Bible as a
duty. Or each night, I'm dead for sleep,
I've got to read the Bible. You've just got to do it. You
can't go to sleep without reading it. Read it when you can prayerfully
be edified and strengthened by the goodness of God and the Word
of God. And this is the Lord's prayer.
Secondly, I know this about this scripture. This is a specimen,
an example of our Lord's intercession. You hear Him, I pray for them,
I pray for them, I pray for them. The intercession which He carries
on right now, He prays for us. Turn to Romans chapter 8. In
the 8th chapter of Romans, did you know that the Lord Jesus
Christ is praying for His people, His sheep right now? He is praying
for us. He said to Peter, I prayed for
you, I have prayed for you. And right now, our great High
Priest, our great Advocate, our great Intercessor, our only Mediator
is actually at the right hand of the Father of the Majesty
in Heaven calling your name. Isn't that something? He loves
me, He lived for me, He died for me, He arose for me. He ascended
for me, He's seated as my forerunner, and He's actually, if I could
comprehend this, what joy would flood my soul, He is calling
my name. That's what it says here, Romans
8, 34. Who is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again. He's not in the grave, He's risen.
Who is even, even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us." Christ prays for us. I want you to look
at Hebrews 7, verse 25, Hebrews 7. I was reading a message by
somebody last week on this subject, and I'm going to preach on it
one of these days, but let's see if this can get a grip on
your heart. Hebrews 7, verse 19, talked about the hope that
we have, the hope we have. Verse 19 of Hebrews 7, the hope
we have. which is an anchor of the soul,
sure and steadfast, which entereth into that within the veil, whither..."
We're talking about in heaven now, in the very presence of
God. "...whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus,
made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." There's
a man in glory, the forerunner who has entered within the veil
into the presence of God for me. And His entrance and His
acceptance and His exaltation is proof and evidence that I
too, one day, will enter in. He's my forerunner. He's gone
there before me. He's gone, He said, to prepare
a place. And then thirdly, now watch this, I'm saying that this
John 17, if you'll go back there, first it's the Lord's Prayer,
Holy Grail. It's the Son speaking with the
Father. It's our advocate and high priest praying. And secondly,
it's a specimen of his intercession. It's an example of his prayers. Right now, he's praying for us.
And thirdly, all of these things which our Lord mentions in this
prayer, every one of them, are eternally decreed, are divinely
predestinated, are divinely purposed. They're unchangeable. They're
unchangeable. And yet he prays about them.
Now this will help us if you'll stay with me for a moment. I
don't know whether I can make it clear or not. I don't know whether
I can do it. I'm not smart enough. I regret my inability. I regret
my dumbness. I regret my ignorance. I regret
the fact that things come so slow for me to do. I can't explain. I cannot explain the harmony. between divine purpose, divine
predestination, and divine sovereignty. I can't explain the harmony between
divine sovereignty and human responsibility. I just know that
it's there. I know that God has a divine
purpose. I know that God is God and God
has decreed and purposed everything that shall come to pass. I know
that His will shall be done, but I know also we're commanded
to pray, we're commanded to seek the Lord, We're commanded to
call upon the name of our God. We're commanded to be engaged
in intercessory prayer. We're commanded to lay hold upon
His promises. We're commanded to draw nigh
unto God. And we're commanded to keep ourselves in the faith.
Now, I can't explain that. I just know it's so. I just know
it's so. I know that God Almighty decreed
from Abraham to have a people. He said that Abraham was going
to have a seed, which is Christ, and was going to have a people
beyond the stars of the sky, the sands of the seashore. He
said that Abraham was going to a country designated by God to
belong to the Jews. But Abraham had to leave. He
had to leave Ur of the Chaldeans. He had to go through the wilderness.
He had to go the route God purposed and planned. He had to do those
things. I know that Christ Jesus was the Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world, but He still had to die. He still
had to die. And I know that God has a people
whom He gave to Christ. He made Christ their surety,
their Redeemer, and Christ died for them, but they've still got
to believe. They've got to be brought to Christ. And every
one of these things in this prayer right here have been decreed,
and yet here our Lord is. And I can't explain this, I just
know that Christ He was born to die. He was born to go to
the cause. He came into this world. He said,
for this cause came out of this hour. Mine hour has not yet come. When it did come, He said, Father,
the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son. Then if these
things are decreed, if these things are predestinated, if
these things are purposed, then why is the Lord in that garden
agonizing in prayer? I don't know. I can't explain.
I just know that that's God's way and that's God's will. I
know this, listen to him, first God worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. That's right, he works all things
after the counsel of his own will. And yet he says to me,
ask and you'll receive, seek and you'll find, knock and it
shall be opened. I know this, I know that God
has a chosen people. I know that He'll be merciful
to whom He will be merciful. He'll be gracious to whom He
will be gracious. I know that, and you know that.
A man's a fool to deny that. The Scripture declares that.
A people chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Our Lord said, All that my Father giveth me will come to me. He
said, I came not into this world to do my will, but the will of
Him that sent me. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that of all which He hath given me I'll lose nothing,
nothing. I'll raise it up at the last
day. And yet the scripture plainly declares, whosoever will, let
him take the water of life. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Our Lord said, Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. He
told his disciples to go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. I'm not going to deny you the
war. And I know this. Thirdly, the Lord giveth to every
man severally as he will. God gives gifts as he will. He
gave some prophets, some apostles, some evangelists, some pastors
and teachers. He gives gifts as he will. The
Scripture says the Holy Spirit divided to every man as he will.
And yet does it not say this? If any man lack wisdom, let him
ask of God. Let him ask of God. On that fateful
night before he was to meet Esau, he wrestled with a man. And we
know that man was the Lord Jesus Christ, the angel of the Lord. He wrestled with a man. He wrestled
till daybreak. And the angel of the Lord says,
the day is breaking. I must go. And Jacob held on
to him. Even when he smote his thigh
and crippled him, he held on to him. He said, I will not let
you go. I will not let you go till you
bless me. And that's when he said, your
name will be called Israel. Now, I fear for us, well, if
this be so, then that's so, so I'm not going to do anything.
I've heard people say, well, if I believe what you believe, I wouldn't
preach. No, you wouldn't, because you've got your God in a box.
But my God is the God of heaven, of heaven and earth. And he's
the God who said to Ezekiel as he stood looking over a valley
of dried, dead, parched, bleached bones, he said, can those bones
live? And Ezekiel said, I don't know,
Lord, you know. He said, well, preach to them.
Well, if I believed those bones were dead and could not give
themselves life, and I couldn't give them life, I'd say it's
foolish to preach to people of bones that can't hear. God said,
preach, I preach. We're not trying to reconcile.
We're not trying to comprehend God. If I could comprehend God,
I'd be God. So I'm simply saying I know this.
He's King, He's Sovereign, He's Lord. That's unchangeable. His
will shall be done. He cannot be defeated. He cannot
be thwarted in His purpose. He is God. He reigns forever.
He'll save whom He will. He'll be merciful to whom He
will. I say to you, seek Him with all your heart and you'll
find Him. And I say to the Jacobs here
who want more wisdom, who want more gifts, who want more grace,
who want more strength, who want more spiritual relationship with
Christ, hang on and say, I won't let you go until you bless me.
I won't do it. And that's when he said, your
name no more will be Jacob, but Israel, a prince. And you know
the Armenian will go out and he'll preach Jacob. Jacob held
on until he got a blessing. The Calvinist will go out and
preach God Almighty decreed to do it anyway. And the smart man
will go out and say God decreed to do it and Jacob held on. That's
right. God decreed to do it and Jacob
held on. Here's another thing about this
17th chapter of John. Let me give you this. Another
thing you'll note. is that what is given to Christ,
and I'm going to show you five things in a moment, but what's
given to Christ is given to us through Christ. Now let me say
this, and I wouldn't offend you for the world, but God has never
given you anything that wasn't given you through Christ. God
never has even loved you apart from Christ. That's true. Turn to Romans 8, and I know
this is one of the offensive notes. There are two places.
that you don't dare, that you don't, two territories where
you don't dare walk in this generation, that you don't dare mention,
and you've got a fight on your hands. Number one, there's a
doctrine and belief that Almighty God is, they say, a God of love. Really, God is not a God of love. He is love. God is love. Scripture doesn't say God is
a God of love. The Scripture doesn't say God
is alive. The Scripture says God is life. God is life. There's a difference. If you
say God is alive, you're saying that there's life and there's
God and God got in on it. But I'm saying that God is life
and apart from God, there is no life. I'm saying God is not
a God of love. That makes love over here and
God over here, and God got in on it. God participates in it.
God partakes of it. God is love. And outside of God,
there's no love. He is love. But this generation
says God is love. God is all love. He loves everybody
indiscriminately. He loves everybody alike to the
same degree, Jew, Gentile, male, female, bond of free, rich or
poor, believer, unbeliever, saint, sinner, devils, angels, anybody
else. God loves everything and everybody.
Well, the Scripture declares that God is love. But His love
is a holy love. His love is His love is a holy
love. His love is in keeping with all
of his other attributes. His love is a righteous love
and a holy love. And God hates sin. And God hates
the workers of iniquity. That's what the Bible says. God
is angry with the wicked. God hates Esau. God hated the
workers of iniquity. God is angry. The wrath of God
abideth on every unbeliever. Let me tell you this. This is
so. I know it's offensive and I know it makes this generation
mad because they've got a God of their imagination. Now, you
know what? The word image came from imagination. You worship
a graven image. Well, it doesn't have to be an
image. What we think when we read the Ten Commandments and
say, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Well,
we picture somebody who's designed a little silly garden boughs
before. Image comes from imagination. And if you have an imagination
of God, of a God that is not in keeping with His attributes
as revealed in His Word, you've got an image. That's right, you've
got an image, imagination. That's an image. You've got it
from your own imagination. And your idea of God is an idol,
it's an image. It came out of your imagination.
And it's not the God of the Bible at all. God is love, but that
love is a holy love and a righteous love and a pure love, and it's
in Christ, Charlie. That's where it is. It's in Christ
and outside of Christ. You hold Romans 8 and turn to
John 3, and I'm telling you the truth. And there's some folks
going to wake up one of these days standing before an angry
God. You say, God changed. No, He
didn't either. You never met Him. You get there
at the judgment, you hear him say, depart from me, I never
knew you. You hear him say, bind him hand
and foot and cast him into hell. You say, wait a minute now, that's
not the God I heard preached. We must be in the wrong judgment.
We got in on the wrong place here. We're supposed to be down
there where God loves everybody. I'm telling you, look at John
3, 36. He that believeth on the Son hath life. Everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see light. But what? What is it? The wrath
of God. One of these days will fall.
That ain't what it says. It says, the wrath of God abideth.
I'm no English professor, but I know that means right now.
I know that means right now. Abideth right now. That's what
that means, John. That's what it says. And you
look at Romans 8. Now, I'm not trying to offend
or wound or hurt. I'm trying to be honest and truthful.
If we're going to worship God, let's don't worship the God of
our imagination, let's worship the God of the Bible. If we're
going to preach, let's don't preach an image, a graven image
that we've worked out in our imagination. Well, this is what
I think about God. Well, your thoughts aren't my thoughts,
he said. There's a way that seems right to me, and the end is death
and destruction. As the heavens are higher above
the earth, so are my thoughts higher than your thoughts. I
think wrong every time I think. I must consult the Scriptures.
And Romans chapter 8 says this, verse 35, ìWho shall separate
us from the love of Christ?î And then it mentions several
things. And then the last verse says, verse 39, are you with
me? ìNor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord.î Thatís where it is. Thatís where it is. Itís in Christ.
I'm going to preach that until I get too old to say it. Yes,
God is love, but his love is a holy love, it's a righteous
love, it's a pure love. And it's a love which is found
in Christ. Christ is the source and the fountain. Look at John
17. Here's what I'm saying. I'm saying that you'll note from
this scripture as he prays, everything that the Father gave, he gave
to Christ. He didn't give, pardon the English,
nothing to us. He gave it all to Christ. And
it's ours in Him. He's the fountain where I drink.
He's the source of mercy. He's the channel of blessing.
He's the conduit. Nothing is outside of Christ.
Nothing. Look at John 17 too. As thou
hast given Him power over all flesh, who did He give the power
to? Christ, that He should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given. You gave it to Him. He gave it to them. You see that? Father, You gave it to me. I
gave it to them. Look at verse 8. I have given
to them the words which you gave me. And the Father gave him the
words. He is the Word. The Father gave
it to him. He gave him the words. He gave
him the promises. He gave him all things. He bested
everything in Christ. I gave it to them. Look at verse
22. Verse 22. And the glory which
you gave me. I've given them." Isn't that
clear? He gave him the glory. There's
nothing, and I'm going to show you something in a minute, and
this is another area, the second area where this world will rise
up and spit on you. They'll double up their fists,
choose up and take sides and throw your name out as evil.
But we've got this philosophy, this religious philosophy that
God is a God of love. And that love rests upon everybody
and everything indiscriminately. Another thing we've got is this
doctrine that when Christ went to that cross, he can't separate
his cross work from his obedience. You see, the gospel, let me tell
you this, and you stay with this now. The gospel is concerning
a person. Turn to Romans 1. Let's look
at this a moment. Romans chapter 1. We'll be helped
here. You see, the gospel is concerning
a person. Paul, in Romans chapter 1, says
this, Paul, talking about himself, I'm a servant of Jesus Christ.
I'm a bond slave of Jesus Christ. I'm called to be an apostle.
I'm separated unto the gospel of God. I'll leave verse 2 out. That's a parenthetical statement.
It's there to identify the gospel he's talking about. It's the
old gospel. But I'm separated to the gospel of God. Verse 3,
concerning his son. Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, not
just concerning his death, his blood, but concerning his son.
What are you saying, preacher? I'm saying that from the time
God made Christ the surety of the eternal covenant in Hebrews.
That's what it says in Hebrews, the surety. And a surety is a
guarantor. You see, when Jacob's sons were
down in Egypt, And they kept one of them, Simeon. Joseph was
down there. They didn't know he was there.
They didn't know who he was. Simeon was there. And Joseph sent word
to Jacob to send Benjamin down there, and he'd let all of them
go free. And Jacob said, Oh, no. I'm not sending... Joseph
is gone. Simeon is gone. Now you want
to take Benjamin? And Judah came to him, the tribe of Judah, this
band Judah. And he said, Father, let Benjamin
go with me. down to Egypt. I'll be surety
for him. I'll be the guarantor. You know
what he's saying? I'll guarantee his safety. He said, if I don't
bring him back, you hold me responsible. I'll be surety. Now that's that
word back there, the law of first mention. What you want to get
hold of, where you read something for the first time in the Bible,
that's what it means all the way through. Law of first mention.
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Lord, first mention,
all right, surety. Judah said, my father, I'll take
Benjamin to Egypt. I'll bring him back. If I don't,
you hold me responsible. I'll be a guarantor of surety.
Now, Judah didn't take on himself surety ship for every Egyptian
and for everybody in the world. He didn't say, I'll be surety
for the horses and the goats and the sheep and the camels.
He'd have been a fool. He said, I'll be surety for Benjamin,
and I'll bring him home. If I don't, you hold me responsible.
That's what Christ is. In all eternity, He's our surety.
He became surety for whom? Everybody? Well, if He did, He
failed. Because there's some folks in hell. If Jesus Christ
struck hands with God in all eternity and said, I'll be surety
for the human race, He failed. And God's going to hold Him responsible.
But our God, our Lord struck hands with God. in all eternity,
in a covenant of mercy, and said, I'll be sure of it with my sheep.
And I'll bring every one of them home, and if I don't, you hold
me responsible. And bless your heart, he ain't
gonna fail. That's right. And when he came down here to
this earth, he was born of a woman. And he walked on this earth in
perfect obedience, and he represented some people. Now, if he represented
the whole world, the whole world's gonna be saved. Because he kept
the law. He kept it for somebody, not
for himself, it's his law. But he kept that law for somebody.
And whoever he kept it for has a perfect holiness and righteousness.
And when he went to that cross and shed his blood, and he said,
it's finished, the work you gave me to do is finished. I'm telling
you this. I don't know how many he died
for or who he died for, but I know that everyone for whom he shed
his blood, He's going to stand in glory. Got to. Got to. He's surety. And not only that,
but He was buried as our scapegoat, He arose as our justifier, He
ascended as our risen King, and He's seated as our intercessor.
And this gospel is concerning His Son, and you can't separate
His suretyship from His representation and His righteousness and His
death and His prayers. And look at verse 9. He said,
I pray for them. I pray not for this world. I
pray for them which thou hast given them." Now, I'll tell you
this, I'll tell you why he didn't pray for this world. Because
he had no intention and no purpose to deliver this world from its
sin. You say, well, how does the world fit into this thing? All right, let's go to verse
2, I'm going to give you this and start quitting. In chapter
17, verse 2, now I want you to listen to this. I think this
will help us. I did a little work on this.
If I fail, it's because I didn't do enough. But John 17, 2, here
our Lord prayed. He said, and what we're saying
is this, He's the channel, He's the fountain, He's the sword.
The Father vested everything in Christ. He's the conduit. It's all in Him. It's mine as
I am in Him. He's the vine, I'm the branch.
Without me, you can do nothing. Severed from the branch, you're
withered and fit for the burning. You talk about love all you want
to. You can talk about life all you want to. You can talk about
mercy all you want to. Severed from that bind, you're
as dead as a hammer. You're without God, without hope
in this world. It's in Christ. The nourishment,
the strength, the grace, the love, the mercy, everything's
in Christ. God put it there. He said, you've
given it to me, and I've given it to them. And John 17, too,
as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as you have given him. This verse
contains two statements. Number one, Christ the King,
Christ the King has received from his Father officially, by
divine purpose and decree, universal authority over this whole world.
The Father has turned the whole universe over to Christ, particularly
this world. That's what he's saying. God
the Father, the absolute Elohim, eternal God, the holy, righteous,
just God, has turned this world over to his Son. He's given it
into his hands. All authority over all flesh. Secondly, the object of this
transaction, the object of this authority, is that He may give
eternal life to as many as the Father gave Him. Now you see
if that doesn't say that. Verse 2, Thou hast given me authority
over all flesh. Well, that's got to be the whole
world. That's dead and living and everything. That's all flesh.
Authority. Now here's the purpose. That
I should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given me."
Now, let me point out some things. Will you listen? You'll have
to listen to this or you'll miss it. Now, no man in his right
mind will question the right of Almighty God to rule over
this universe or to do with it what He will. That's right. They're the angels that fell,
kept not their first estate. You want to argue with God about
how He handled that situation? No. He said, hath not the potter
power over the clay? Can I not do with my own what
I will? Just don't argue. We don't have any argument. God,
I kill and I make alive. God says, so no man in his right
mind is going to argue or question God's right to do with all things
what he will. It's his by creation. It's his
because he made it. It's his because he's God. He's
the king and ruler. So in order to save a people
for his glory, the Father has taken the whole world of flesh
from under his own, listen to me now, his own immediate rule
as absolute God. He has taken this world of men
and flesh and sons of Adam from under his immediate rule as absolute
God. And he has placed this whole
flesh, this whole world, all the sons of Adam, under the authority,
power, and government of Jesus Christ. Now that's contrary to
the sweet little Jesus, boy, and the poor little Jesus you
hear preached today. Won't you have some pity on Jesus
and let him have his way? You see, this is what Christ
is saying to Pilate. Pilate said, I've got the power
to crucify, I'll let you go. No, he said, you have no power
over me at all. You know who had the power over
whom? Christ had the power over power. Power is flesh, isn't
He? Well, He's got power over all
flesh. Authority, you see. Turn to Isaiah 9, verse 6. Listen
to this. Isaiah 9, saying, if you get
a hold of this, it will help you. And don't give up. Don't
say, well, He's getting too deep for me. No, I'm not. No, I'm
not. I know that I'm not. I'm going to make it clear as
I can. Isaiah 9, verse 6. Under us a child is born. A little
baby is born. Son of Mary. But unto us a son
is given. He ain't born, he's given. Now
he wasn't born, he was given, he came from heaven, he inhabited
that body of that child. And the government, government
of this whole universe will be upon his shoulders. The whole
thing is in his hands. He got the whole world in his
hands. And he had all his hands. He
has had since back yonder for the foundation of the world.
God turned it over to him. Almighty God. Turn to Romans 14, one other
verse. Romans 14, listen to this. Romans
14, verse 9. Romans 14, to this end, Romans
14, Christ both died and rose again and revived that he might
be Lord both of the dead and the living. He's Lord. He's Lord
by design. He's Lord by decree. He's Lord
by death. Well, he said in the picture,
let me say it again, in order to save a people for his glory.
The Heavenly Father, Elohim, Absolute Almighty God, has turned
this world over to His Son. He has given this world of sons
of Adam, taken it out from under His immediate rule, His immediate
authority as Absolute God. If He hadn't, He'd have consumed
us when we fell. But He took it out from under
His, and He will deliver up the kingdom to the Father. You remember
that scripture we've been studying? when He will deliver the kingdom
up to the Father. Washed, purged, sin put away,
delivered. The Father put it in His hands.
Here's the whole world, my son. In that world's a people. Bring them home. That's what
He did. I'm simplifying, Paul. That's
exactly what He did. And He's going to deliver up
the kingdom to the Father. We see all things put under the
feet of Christ Jesus. You know what Scripture says?
Yes, sir. It's all been put unto him. Now,
watch this. I'll give you this. As a result
of this gracious arrangement, as a result of this gracious
arrangement, the Father, Elohim, Absolute God, and Luther said,
I want nothing to do with an Absolute God. You'd be glad he
turned this world over to the Mediator. You'd be glad. Boy, you'd be glad. I'm glad.
Old Adam ought to have been glad. He'd have been snuffed out as
soon as he took that fruit. was not under the absolute rule
of a holy, righteous God in that sense, but it was under Jehovah,
Savior, Merciful Beator. And as a result of that arrangement,
a fallen race is permitted to exist. The only reason that this
world is permitted to exist right now is because it's in the hands,
not of an absolute God, Otherwise it'd be doomed to destruction,
but it's in the hands of, and it's under the mediatorial reign
of, a Savior. Grace. You see what I'm saying,
Ron? I hope this is clear because it's the very cause of our existence.
It's the very reason this, you say, why does God permit this
world to continue? He's saving a people out of this
world. And this world, I'll tell you this, when God took this
whole creation, this whole world, and put it in the hands of a
mediator, and put it in the hands of a Redeemer, put it in the
hands of the Savior, and between Almighty God and this fallen
creature is a Savior, holding back the wrath of God, till he
calls out his own. And under this gracious arrangement,
a fallen race is permitted to exist. Christ stands between
justice and Adam's race. A sinful world coming into contact
with an absolute God would be instantaneously doomed to hell. That's true. Nobody knows anything
about God and the Bible knows that stuff. But he turned it
over to Christ. Now here's the second thing about
it. As a result of this gracious arrangement, there is a gospel
to present to this world. There's hope. But that hope's
in Christ. That hopes in the mediator. That's
the reason. The thief, he saw it. He said, Lord, you're coming
into a kingdom. Remember me. Would you just remember
me? I tell you, my friend, walk all
the aisles you want to, get in all the pools you want to, take
all the sacraments you want to, get all the blessings you want
to, get all the evangelists to assure you you're saved, but
I tell you what you want to do. You want to kiss the Son. You
want to fall at the feet of that mediator. You want to somehow
get that king who holds this world in his hand, who holds
the fate of all men in his hand, to whom God the Father hath delivered
all flesh. You want somehow to get on his
good side. That's what I'm saying. And that's
what that thief said. He said, Lord, you're not going
to stay dead. You're coming in their kingdom.
I'd sure be much obliged if I could have a part. Because you reckon
you could come down there? No, we're going to walk the aisle,
you know. We're going to adopt some rules. We're going to get
religion. We're going to give our testifier. We're going to
do all these things. Say, Jesus, I preached in your
name and prophesied, but you didn't know the mediator. And
the Father said it's not mine to give, I gave it to him. Down
there when Egypt didn't have any corn, and the world didn't
have any corn, Joseph had plenty. And they went to Pharaoh, and
they said, give us corn. He said, go to Joseph. The corn's
in his hands. And that's what the Father's
saying to you, says, you want some corn, go to Jesus. I gave
it all to him. There ain't a grain, David, outside
of his hands. And you're going to kiss the
hand if you get the corn. That's so. And here's the third
thing. As a result, I'll quit on this, as a result of this
gracious arrangement, the Father Thou hast given me authority
over all flesh, that I should give eternal life to all you've
given me. As a result of this gracious
arrangement, a sincere invitation is extended to all who will come,
who will bow to..." Old Barnard used to say, and I didn't, couldn't,
when I was a young preacher, couldn't understand what he's
talking about, but he'd say, Acknowledge the crown rights
of King Jesus. That's where it is. If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, will I accept him
as my personal Savior? Uh-uh, sinner. Down. Bow down. Bow down and confess him as Lord. He's nobody's personal Savior
until he first becomes his Lord. God putting everything under
Christ, mediatorial reign and government, giving him the crown
rights, is the salvation of his elect. I heard this little illustration,
I'll close. Here's a pagan island. The island
is inhabited by men and women, pagans, heathens, hot-and-tots,
cannibals, poor, sick, dying, hungry, filthy, dirty, wretched
people. And a missionary lands on that
island by the grace of God. It lands on that island. And
that missionary and his wife and children teach these people
to clean up themselves, clean up their island, spend years
there, teaches them to farm, teaches them to change their
ways. They quit eating one another. They become sort of civilized.
They plant gardens and foods, food, and he preaches the gospel
to them. And a few of them come to know Christ. Let me tell you
this, that whole island came under a dispensation of grace.
that God might call out His own. That's right. And my Lord Jesus
Christ, the Heavenly Father, has put this work on. You can
talk about the dispensation of grace because it's so He's put
this world under dispensation of grace. He has delivered this
world into the hands of the Mediator. And the rain will fall on the
just and the unjust, and the sun will shine on the just and
the unjust, and every son of Adam to some extent and in some
way partakes of and is blessed by the person Christ, the power
of Christ, and the sacrifice of Christ, and the blood of Christ,
until God wipes this world away. and then they'll deal with him,
them in justice. But those in Christ will always
be dealt with in Christ. Well, read that chapter and you
see the Word, you see life and everything given to Christ and
through him given to us. Thank God for the Savior.